For decades, it was an axiom of investing. If you wanted income, you ignored stocks and bought bonds. But these days, even some bond investors are looking longingly at the stock market. The reason: The dividends being paid out by some stable firms are higher than the income produced by their own bonds.

Analysts credit the role reversal to a huge jump in demand for bonds over the past year, which has depressed already low bond yields. At the same time, companies that pay big dividends are often well-established, slower growers, many of whose stocks lagged in last year s furious market rally. For example, AT&T has a fat 6.4 percent dividend yield. That s higher than the yield on many of the company s own bonds. A lot of people overlook the income you can get from equities, especially now, says Jason Brady, comanager of the Thornburg Investment Income Builder fund, which invests in both stocks and bonds.

Naturally, investing in a stock just for its dividend carries its own risk. While it s extremely difficult for companies to negotiate down the amount of interest they pay on a particular bond, companies can easily cut dividend payouts. Indeed, many firms slashed their dividends in 2009. And the stock can always lose value, more than offsetting any gains from the dividend. Nevertheless, analysts say there are dozens of cash-rich, dividend-paying firms out there that have little risk of reducing their quarterly payouts.

These stable dividend payers also tend to be less volatile than their more growth-oriented peers, a plus in today s uncertain market climate, says John Buckingham, manager of the $17 million Al Frank Dividend Value fund. Many of them are in sectors such as utilities, energy and tobacco, all of which are trading more cheaply than the overall market, says Jim Swanson, chief investment strategist for MFS Investment Management.

Some pros say a good way to start hunting for dividend stocks is to compare a stock s dividend yield with the yields on that company s bonds that mature in five years. One name that sticks out: Verizon Communications. The telecom company (AT&T s top rival) has a 6.2 percent dividend yield, significantly higher than the yield on its bonds that mature in 2015. With that type of yield, you don t need substantial capital appreciation, says Buckingham, who owns the stock.

Verizon Communications
While Verizon s profits aren t skyrocketing, it has a huge customer base, Buckingham says. That bodes well for its 6.2 percent dividend yield notably beefier than its 4.5 percent five-year bond yield.

Diamond Offshore Drilling
This deepwater drilling company would benefit from growing demand for oil worldwide, and investors benefit from what amounts to a 9.5 percent dividend yield, including special dividends paid last year. (Special dividends have become almost routine in recent years.) That total yield is well above the 4.6 percent yield on the company s five-year bond.

CenturyLink
This Louisiana-based company provides voice, broadband and video services to consumers and businesses in 33 states, as well as an 8.3 percent dividend that dwarfs its 4.9 percent five-year bond yield.